A Healthy Approach

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President Clinton's Careful Design Of A New Health-care Commission Suggests That He Has Learned From The Earlier Fiasco.

March 31, 1997|By Brown

When President Clinton talked about a renewed emphasis on health-care reform during last year's presidential campaign, some people felt headaches coming on.

And last week, when he announced a national commission to study health care, the symptoms returned.

It's not that health care doesn't deserve a higher profile. It does. In that respect, Mr. Clinton's commission is welcome.

But it's also hard for Mr. Clinton to escape the shadow of the health-care monster he tried to unleash early in his first term.

Americans didn't want big government stretching its regulatory arms around health care then, and they don't want it now.

So is the new commission a similar beast, thirsting to control health care?

That doesn't appear to be the case. Mr. Clinton's careful design of the panel suggests that he has learned from the earlier fiasco.

For example, First Lady Hillary Clinton - who headed Mr. Clinton's first health-care commission and, in the process, alienated many people - won't be a participant.

Most important, the Advisory Commission on Consumer Rights and Quality in the Health Care Industry is made up of a broad, bipartisan group of people with a clear focus.

That's similar to the approach that made possible the passing of landmark health-care reform legislation last year. A bipartisan effort took on a slice of the health-care issue and came up with a law that makes it easier for people to keep their insurance when changing jobs and to get insurance despite pre-existing conditions.

But that law didn't resolve all the nation's health-care concerns. One of the biggest problems is that some 40 million Americans lack health-care insurance.

Even as elected officials begin to tackle that challenge, it's also appropriate to take stock of where the health-care system is now.

In a sense, Mr. Clinton's commission echoes a proposal made last year by former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum. She urged her colleagues in Congress and at the White House to evaluate recent changes in health care, particularly managed care. That study would provide insights into what works and what doesn't.

Evaluation will be a significant charge of Mr. Clinton's commission. He is particularly interested in making sure that, as the health-care system changes and savings are made, people's needs aren't neglected.

Clinton administration officials have emphasized that the commission should not be construed as an attack on managed care. Nor will it compete with health-care proposals that may emerge from Congress this year. It is, they say, designed to be complementary. That's encouraging.

Finally, the commission will act rather quickly. Its preliminary report is due in 10 months. The commission's recommendations have the potential to make a worthwhile contribution to the next round of health-care deliberations.